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Preventing and Treating Addiction

Did You Know?

Among patients not suffering from cancer, 1 in 4 people who receive prescription opioids struggle with addiction.

A Lethal Path Many, if not most, opioid addicts start their road to addiction in the doctor’s office, and the path they take is a familiar one. After a period of regular usage, it takes more opioids to achieve the same high as previously. A person’s tolerance for the drug has increased. They must take more of the drug more frequent- ly than before or suffer difficult withdrawal physical and emo- tional symptoms. These include headaches, trembling, chills, bone and muscle pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, night- mares, hallucinations, and depression. All of this is accompa- nied by an intense craving for the drug. Opioid use is about more than just experiencing the initial euphoria after adminis- tration. Now it is about avoiding withdrawal, too.

Educational Video

Scan here to see a beauty-pageant winner talk about growing up in a family of addicts.